an offering to the gym gods

In a tragic offering to the gym gods the squares and a bottle of wine I brought in for my part of the christmas eve lunch nibbles at work tipped over on the gym tile floor this morning and somehow shattered spectacularly...all over the floor and the desserts. Lovely. Glass everywhere in a gym setting.
Yeah. They loved me.
I cleaned it all up, but there is no wine or squares to be saved...only a few slightly wine filled Ferrero Rocher. Sad. I hope the gym gods appreciate their offering and grant me health and full christmas turkey and pudding recovery.
I think I'll just suck the wine out of the candies and call it a day :)

I'm not sure when I'll be in next, so I must wish you all a most Merry Christmas my frends :)

The moon is full

image

Yesterday was solstice.
The days will get longer now. More light. More warmth. The boldest and darkest things have come and will now be taken back and replaced with new brighter things.
After spending the evening with fine people snacking, laughing and reflecting I feel refreshed. It always seems like more of a new year to me than January 1. The time when I really can stop and ponder the past year and think about the one to come. Reflect. Wish. Scheme >:)

I find, upon reflection, that I need to take the time to be grateful for so many things:

I am really lucky to have the friends I do. Old and new. You all show me how to be a better person. You care without pause and push me to be better. Teach me when I am wrong. Love me for who I am. Make me laugh. Comfort me when I cry. It is freeing. Thank you.

I am closer with my family than I have ever been after the year that has passed by. Altho I still miss my Mum every day I can find the joy in memories. And the more I do, I remember that you must give love every day in little things. Take the time to appreciate those I care for. To let them know and not save up goodness for some grand future plan - to just share what is with a smile.

My husband and I are close...after so much we are companions of the soul and two geeky peas in an escape pod. He is still the one I see when I wake and smile and know each day that again, today will be a new day. And we will spend it together...and who knows what may come of it!

I am lucky to be healthy. At this moment, I am healthier than I have ever been. I can move and breathe and do everything I want to. And best of all, I have begun to feel comfortable in my own skin. I am slowly settling into whatever I am and will be. The process fascinates me.

I must be conscious that I am still learning. There is so much out there and endless opportunity to take it all in. From the crude and mundane to the new and scientific. So much to know and forget and relearn :)

There is so much to try and experience: I have come to love so many new things this year by being open-minded and curious. I like persimmons...cottage cheese...apple tea...espresso vodka...exercising at stupid o'clock.

Being so busy this past year has shown me just how important the things are to me that I hold dear. These are some of those things.

The moon is full.
As is my heart. :)

Cheers!

Feeling Festive

This Mexican version of Walking in a Winter Wonderland popped in my head last night after watching one of the weirdest (and arguably worst) Christmas films. A friend of ours has a penchant for B movies and invited us all over for a Christmas film. Usually it's a horror movie, so we showed up with munchies and eggnog and wow...were we surprised. It wasn't a horror...but yet it was...


(sorry - it was all I could find on this film on the web)

He found "Santa Claus" - a 1959 english dubbed Mexican Christmas film about a demon trying to stop Santa on Christmas eve. From this film, I've learned a few new facts about Christmas:
1. if you are bad Santa will shoot you in the butt with a canon
2. Santa lives in a castle out in space, made of crystal and candy
3.Good children who don't steal have nightmares about creepy dancing dolls
4. It's OK to pray to Santa for a present if you ask for two of them so you can give one to the baby Jesus.
5. Merlin the magician wears curly shoes and talks like Dr. Evil doing the macarena (katuk katuk katuk...). He lives in Santa's castle...just cuz...Utterly bizarre.

Good thing we had lots of rum...

Belated birthday presents are cool

I finally got together with my friends Heather and Lisa last night. Poor Larry and J endured us being nerdy giggly fools. There was beer and munchies in the Cave lounge, which is old with sculpted walls and odd lighting and honestly looks like Mos Eisley space port. I always expect the Cantina band to break out of the back room whenever we go in there. It's nice and mellow...
It's been so long since we've been able to meet that she still had my birthday present. Ridiculous I know. It was good to see them before Christmas. Hopefully I will again much sooner...We are scheming to go to ComicCon this summer...girls only. It should be a blast.

I am now the proud owner of lightsaber lip balm. Yes it lights up green. No you can't have it.

Hee hee.
So cool...

Furry friends

Poor Gavin has a cold. I worry a bit, as he's pretty old. He seems to still have lots of energy...he just sounds snuffly when he purrs and is sneezing. With any luck he won't pass it to the Geek, but we'll keep an eye on them. Both of them have panic attacks for cars and vets, so I won't put them through that unless they need some extra help. They are 15 so they don't bounce back like they used to, so we're keeping an eye on them...it's hard not to worry. We love them...things like this remind us that they are only with us for a while...a very fuzzy purry while. I left J curled up with 2 cats this morning when I left for the gym...I'm sure he would have been purring with them if possible. It was very cute to see all my guys curled up together asleep.

Friends of ours just lost their furfriend. I am sad with them -she was a sweet one. Some people have "pets". For me, and others like them their pets are family. It makes me want to go home and give the cats some sort of eternal youth elixir...I know I've had Geek about longer than I have had J about. And I'm so grateful for all that time...

That's a lot of head butts and skritches. :)

tuesday thoughts

Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me

Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me

There's no place I can't be
Since I found serenity
You can't take the sky from me...

Boo diggedy

I'm done my exam. I think it went OK...if I screwed up I don't know what I did wrong, so I figure it can't have gone that badly :)
I can hardly believe I can say it but

THIS SEMESTER IS OVER!!!!!

As my Dad would say - Hot damn and hallelujah!
I'm going out for supper with J and my Dad tonight to celebrate and visit and unwind. I will drink wine. I will smile. I will relax with my family and eat large amounts of chinese food....bliss.
Dad is here untill wednesday and it'll be so nice to just visit and not have a zillion things running around in the back of my head that need attention.

I'm so very very happy this semester is all over...
Cheers!

Geep

Well. Off to write my exam...here goes nothing.

Hard to Concentrate

I'm trying to study for my last exam. Its' tomorrow.
I'm wigging out...having the worst time concentrating. So much to know. So incredibly BORING.
It is the last thing before I am done this semester. Everything else has gone alarmingly well...
Soon I can then visit with my family and my Dad.
Make cookies.
Put up lights.

Just have to get thru this damn test first.

statistical analysis is NOT an easy study topic.
And I want to kick it's sorry ass back to Idaho.
Blech.

Well back to it I suppose...

Start again!

Well, I'm off to give my MSc progress meeting talk. You know, *that* one that I was supposed to give before.
I'm wearing my new dress pants. They're stretch corduroy. *wicked* - like pajama pants, but posh looking. It's like giving a speech in fancy pajamas :)

Here we go!

I can't decide if this is the coolest thing ever or mildly creepy

What do you think. *I'd* wear it...

Handle Me With Care

I still love this song. It's been in my head all morning...hope it makes you smile too. Lately I've had Roy Orbison on the brain...

I'm hanging in there. I may actually finish my final paper tonight...then comes the studying.

Have a great day K? :)

Taking a compliment

Mmm...I just finished my breakfast of cottage cheese and peaches. I can still taste it. Yum...just yum. And guaranteed to not explode! I still can't believe that it is one of my favourite breakfasts. Strange how things go like that... This morning I crawled out into the cold cold world and came in to workout. This time has become my zen, time for myself. I admit to breaking into a run for 2 minutes near the end during a favourite song and then reigning myself in again. I'm one of those nutters that LOVES to run...it just isn't good for my knee and I know it. And I must be good, because my knee, for the first time in a LONG LONG while, is utterly and completely normal. In fact, it's better than normal. I've been doing one legged lunges the last few weeks with no complaints and last night I bounded up the stairs to get something at home. In the past this would have elicited a twinge or pinch.

Now? Nothing. Because I'm achieving my goals. My legs are strong. The muscles supporting my knee are strong. I used to only be able to do one set of leg raises of 10 lbs before my knee would complain and ache. As of yesterday I can do 3 sets of 40. Yes...hard work and attention to form has given me back the active, strong legs I have been wanting and I couldn't be more happy about it. I can do everything I need to do.

Being the hermit I have been with school lately I've sort of not noticed the changes in my health and overall body shape over the past few months. Nose to the grindstone. Really it's only my annoying lack of fitting clothes that's given me any signals that I'm really changing my body. The last week or so, going to Christmas gatherings a few people have come up and asked me what I'm doing to make such a good change. It's a bit embarrassing for me as I still don't know how to take a compliment, but it really pleases me that it's noticeable. It's the same reason why if I think I should pay a stranger a compliment I do...I know how it feels :)

I'm really struggling with finishing up my last assignment (it's one of those make work sort of things) and studying for my exam. It's been over 10 years since I've written a final exam...and I don't quite "get" all the material I need to to completely understand it all (it *is* biostatistical analysis methods...not exactly a cake walk, but still...I've got a nerdy brain. This stuff usually comes easily to me). If I can finish up my final assignment tonight I'll have 5 days left to study. I'm hoping it will be enough to mush things around in my head and come up with a decent understanding of what i need to know. Maybe I'm being a bit hard on myself, but I really want to know that when I walk into that test, whatever mark I get is the best I could get. If I blow it, so be it. At least I will have tried my best. Then there is no regrets and I can go on with life. It's been one long frigging difficult semester and I'll be damned if I give up with 1 week left :).

Well, I must be off. Lots of lab stuff to do...later taters!

Workout tunes: Fatboy Slim - Greatest Hits: Why try harder

Kaboom

I'm not even quite sure how but this morning I managed to explode yogurt all over the lunchroom while preparing my breakfast. Sadly, none of it made it into my belly.

It was rather spectacular...and the lunchroom smells great now :)

I dunno...

I think I'm wierd (shhhh. let me finish) in that I like vegetables. A lot. And fruit.
Since discovering a zillion kinds of healthy foods I love I've been quite happy snarfing them all the time. I thought that was the whole point of eating - eat what you like. I could never be healthy if I had to eat bland crappy food that I dislike. I suppose I'm lucky that way that I've found healty food that I love.
I have variations on salads with grilled chicken or tuna and nuts for lunch almost every day and at least once a day someone asks me why I'm not bored of them by now.
I have no idea. But I'm not. I still actually salivate when I'm setting it all out on my plate for lunch. Since school has started I've had them most days as I can pack up a whole week of lunches on sunday for myself and I'm good to go.
That's why I think it is odd that I've been asked if it's difficult to chop the vegetables.
Um. No? To me salads are a lazy lunch. Hardly any work at all...I make a point of not talking about it because I don't want to one of the people I find annoying that like to talk about how good her healthy food is.... I just eat it with a big grin on my face. :)

Do you find that there are things you could eat all the time and not get tired of?

There. That's better

The wonders of sleep cannot be described in words.
Ahhhhhh!

Stay awake sleepyhead

After staying up until 3:30 to try and finish my assignment I have a bit left to do this AM and then I can hand it in. With any luck I will be left alone and I"ll sort of mostly have it done.

And I've calmed down considerably now. But, really...what else can I do?

Have a good day everyone. I will be keeping the caffeine levels spiked in my blood so I survive today...

I am Geo's sense of ultimate wrath

I cannot express fully how completely pissed off I am.
I am shaking.

I just spent weeks data crunching, working, writing and rewriting a paper and making a presentation for my 6 month meeting around my regular project, regular job and 2 classes with lots of homework. I have had no life for weeks.

I wore a fucking skirt people.

I even came early, helped rebook the talk to a room with a phone jack so that my one supervisor could teleconference in, came early and set it all up....and then sat...and waited for some people to show up...and they never did. They were in another very important meeting that went long...so MINE is going to be rescheduled. After it took me harrassing them to get it scheduled after the first scheduling of it failed back in early November.

But, oh don't worry. It'll happen. You know, sometime soon...

So basically I could have spent all that time on other assignments and NOT slowly going batshit crazy over the last few weeks trying to get everything done (and doing so I might add). I could have spent tim ewith my husband. I could have...oh...I don't know, worked on the freaking huge assignment I have due tomorrow all weekend instead of on my presentation. Knowing I'll be up all night finishing something for no damn reason is just....
There are no words.

I need to calm down so I can get work done.

For a change...

grrrrrrrr..................

Yarrr! This here be the nucleus...

Today is my second bi-annual progress report meeting for my MSc.
I'll be so glad when it's done. I hope hope hope it goes well. My report for it is complete and my talk should be just fine. I'm rather burnt out so I admit I'm just pleased it's coherent :) I have lots to show for my time, but not a lot of analysis yet, and I suspect I'll say the phrase "I'm analyzing that right now, I should know soon" about 6 zillion times as we discuss my speech, but at this point, I'm looking forward to it being done.
You know - so they can give me more to do :)

Wish me luck...I wore my new pirate boots, so it has to go well, right?

Siren call

My mum-in-law made a giant bowl of her delicious rice pudding last night for supper. And the lovely woman sent me home with all the leftovers. Today, every time I am by the fridge I hear it.

It calls to me. I pull out a spoon and have a bit.
The afternoon of what should be determined work on my MSc presentation and some other homework at the table has gone thusly:

work work....
*eat the pudding Geo*

pause. Determined head shake.
work work...

*delicous pudding....just over there!!*

"Nom. OK. No more. I must work on my speech and biostats assignment!"
Determined effort for 10 minutes

*pudding?*
hesitant glance over at fridge
"why just a little bit more wouldn't hurt..."

"now. back to work!"

Determined effort for 10 minutes...

*pudding?*

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
All delicious afternoon...

I think the entire ~2 L of pudding will be gone by tomorrow. I honestly have no concrete plans for anything else to eat except for pudding today.

I can't get scurvy from one solid day of eating pudding can I?

Hyperbole

This makes me laugh.
A lot.
Because it's true.

In fact this whole website makes me giggle uncontrollably from time to time. The most recent post about their dogs and moving is brilliant.

Have a giggle.
Go on. You know you want to.

It's a mad mad world

I just don't even know what to say about this.

Really?

Really.

Huh....

7

7 days of classes left this semester.
Believe me when I say that I am beside myself with glee about this.

The only problem is trying to focus :)
I've been so *busy* for so long, it's like knowing it will end soon is some sort of ticket that allows me to slack off. I don't want to burn out, but I've still got 4 things due so I need to keep at it so I'm not panicking at the last minute and turning in macaroni pictures!

I bought some organic yogurt and some fresh blueberries last night. Pricey but delicious for breakfast this morning. Something about swimming makes me crave yogurt afterwards. Seeing as this is the last swim of the season before they shut down the pool until January I thought I'd have one final uberposh yogurt fruity deluxe of a breakfast.
Yum.

Have a listen to the song that's been round and round in my head since I got up and have a great day OK? :)

Hope yours goes well. :)

Come onna my house

I feel like I've just discovered a secret.

Rosemary Clooney has an incredible voice. She's like Judy Garland and Billy Holiday to me - one of those perfect sexy voices from the past that I could never tire of listening to...from long ago when women sang from their soul. She sang incredible full songs. Sultry. Some of my favourite ones were Sway and especially Love You Didn't Do Right By Me in the film White Christmas (which some day I would LOVE to sing).
Today I learned it's her voice that sings Come On a My House, of which there is a remix of on the funky Ursadelica Album by Nasty Tales and their Orchestra that has been in my head all morning. Ursula 1000 remixes and spins funky stuff...
Strange how music bumps around and overlaps like that :)

Winter has arrived

I have to give a speech today so I figured I'd wear a skirt to boost my confidence.
I look great, but sweet zombie jesus I picked a cold day for it.

It is only -28 C. -37 with the wind.
Oh my poor frozen legs :).

I can see!

Just got my new specs...I love them.

They're like an updated version of my old pair. J agrees with me that they look like I've always worn them...which to me is just right and proper. To me my specs are a part of my identity. I feel odd without them and it's nice to have them back..all supernew and swanky. I'm looking forward to many years with these :)

weekend off

Begin doing nothing...........................NOW!

Keep hunting after that rainbow!

image

Well, after many 18 hour days in a row, I think I'm done the draft of my bi-annual MSc report for my supervisors to review and almost done my poster on it for presenting. Whew! It's been a busy week, with this and many other assignments to do! After this I have 4 major final assignments, one speech and one exam and then my classes are done so I can relax a bit. I've decided I'm scaling things way back in the end of December once all my classwork is done so I can have a real Christmas. I deserve it! I'll still have some work to do, but not like it's been lately!

It's finally snowed here after being plain cold and windy for ages. It looks so pretty out there now with a few inches of the white stuff all over everything. It was nice to go for a swim this morning after a snowy walk to the pool. It's so warm and humid in there...ah!

Well, I'm off again for round dickety two of crazy days, but the end is in sight and I'm gonna make it :) Have a wonderful day everybody!

Poof!

My head nearly exploded this morning, due to what looked like someone (again) majorly screwing with my project. BUT, we seem to have found a solution.
Thank goodness. I hate relying on other people for things...because I find in my experience, they do not usually have the same vested interest in it as I do...this only reinforces what I try and get away from. I am trying to remind myself that despite these things it is good to rely on other people sometimes. If they have expertise to offer, why reinvent the wheel? Let them help...

It's the home stretch of evil. SO much to do in 3 small days.
Here we go!

77

Today would have been my Mum's 77th birthday. I've been thinking about her a lot the last few days. I used to call her and Dad when I'd get stressed out about things...I miss her. Miss hearing her voice...somehow Mums can make it all OK with just a few words.

Giant celestial hug to you Mum, wherever you may be.

Thinking of you today...and every day.

Rule # 32: enjoy the little things

As much as I whinge...there's little things that keep me going -Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, hoar frost sparkling in the sun after a foggy night, fresh muffins...

and napping with the Geek :)

I'm hanging in there...slowly hacking away at the work bit by bit.

Take the time to enjoy the little things. It makes all the difference :)

Hear me baby...hold together

I am losing my mind. Toooo many things to do and many annoying people randomly fucking with my life at the precise moment it is not needed. Today's one example of many (and non-work related so I can freely vent it): Like sending in an optomotrists report to get my prescription taken off my license. I called and asked what to send. Confirmed it and then I sent it. Just got a letter saying thanks for what you sent, but could you send *this* too- because that's not what we need at all...

Wankers. All of them...

But. On the very very plus side, my friends Nick and Laurel just had a beautiful baby girl...all sweet and scrunchy and tomatoey faced... and two more wonderfully kind and peaceful people there are not in this world, so I know this baby has a great place to grow.

And I am glad to know that wonderful joyous things still abound...I was starting to wonder.

Netbooks are really spiffy

image
Help me great pulsating brain at the center of the universe...for I am doomed.

I have 3 weeks of insanity coming up in which I have many many assignments due, as well as a poster presentation and my semi-annual MSc paper and lecture. Oh and, you know, just my regular job...and MSc labwork. I am trying not to wig out. Only 4 more weeks until the semester is over and I get my life back for a while.

In an attempt to try and do more I broke down and got a little netbook so I can uplink to my work PC from home and use the PC compatible software I need at home, as well as have my work PC run all my high powered technical stuff from home (because my netbook would freeze if I tried to make it do that). My little robot is a definitely worth the few hundred dollars I paid for it if it does all it is made out to. I didn't want to buy a whole new full computer and so I ignored the whole PC issue until I did a bit of reading up on netbooks and how they're compatible with my work network and just what I could accomplish for a small amount of cash. I kept ignoring the PC issue because my Mac laptop works just fine, but the incompatibility of it, combined with my desire to not spend 18 hours a day here at work (and nearly losing my mind on a few occasions) ended up with me getting this little unit. I am already feeling it was well worth it and I've only just set it up for use. Sure it isn't very powerful, but I have a laptop for anything more than the basics. I have to say it is cool getting just what I need for something to solve my IT problems in such a futuristic way. I am looking forward to seeing how this little guy helps me out with all my work and keeps me sane in my MSc to come.

We shall see...

But at any rate...like i said. Crazy town time.

I will be so busy I cannot even say for the next while. Don't take it personally if I'm not posting.

I'm just working my ass off and trying to keep it together.Please stand by - I may not be back until the semester is over...wish me luck...

LATER: after initial tests the robit does everything it should admirably. Not as super swift as my Mac...but that'll do pig, that'll do.
Plus it has a webcam.
Giggedy...:)

Howls of love

My Geek has steadily been losing his hearing over the past 6 months. At first we thought he'd suddenly decided at the ripe old age of 15 to take up opera. Now that he seems quite thoroughly deaf the howling has let off a lot. Which is good because he really needs to keep his jedi day job...he's not a great singer :) Nothing is wrong with him that can be seen...he just seems to be getting old.
It has made having him about a bit more interesting -it is hard to call or admonish a deaf cat. Often "the voice" was all it took for him to know he was behaving badly. I am finding I accidentally startle him a bit more than I'd like to, and am trying to remember to tap on the floor before I just walk up and pet him from behind. Other than his desire to destroy the back of the downstairs couch I really have nothing to complain about to him. All in all he is a wonderful old man. Geek is a people cat, liking to watch what we do, and still plays like a monkey. He has become something of a snugglecat as he got older and I am home less often, which I love.
He is currently a big purring blob on my lap, keeping me company after a long day in the lab and a few hours out in the yard raking leaves. After a nice hot shower and a crisp gala apple I do believe the Geek and I are going to read a book for a while.
For fun.
One with nothing to do about labwork.

Squeee....

Why do I do this to myself? Gibbely gibbely gibbely...

It could be said that I dislike zombies.
A lot.
When I was 4 I watched the fog.
As a teenager I had the same repeated nightmare involving a horde of zombies...which I can still vividly picture now. Let's just say I have experienced being chased and attacked with/by loved ones/zombies and been eaten alive and leave it at that. *shudder*
Zombies are, to me, the ultimate unstoppable horror. You can't reason with them. They have no keen intelligence-just instinct...and hunger. They slowly move towards sounds and if you are there, they will kill you, tear you apart painfully and then perhaps eat you. And after, you or ones you love will become one of them...
I've tried for years to get over this irrationality. Most movie zombies aren't that scary, as they aren't real. Too fast. Too slow. Very fake. Occasionally comics or movies get them right...and I'm terrified. The suspense of an empty world full of walking dead is just shivery. The waiting and watching...the fear. It would drive me mad I think.

And yet, the comic series Walking Dead fascinated me. Sure it's quite scary and not at all happy, but it focuses not on the gruesomeness of death so much as how the people who survive meet, work together and try and deal with things. How real people make it through in a new world.
I've enjoyed reading it for this reason. Maybe it's cathartic seeing the main character, a sheriff who wakes up in a hospital after recovering from a gunshot wound to find the world forever different. He searches for any family left (his emotionally distant wife and young son) and tries to accept how things are now. He tries to find sanity and friendship and reasons for living. Along the way he meets many people, not all good, but all of them dealing with things in their own way. And yes...also a lot of the "walkers"...reanimated people...worthy of pity and fear for what they can do to you and those you care for.
AMC (who did a great job of recreating the Prisoner a while back) have made a mini-series based on this long running comic, and the first installment aired over the weekend. I finally had time to sit down, hunkered tensely under a blanket next to J, and watch it. Yes, it gave me the gibbeleys, but I will watch the rest of it if I can catch it. It's quite faithful to the comics (so far) and is doing very well at focusing on what I find interesting...how real people deal with such a thing.
And yes...I'll likely hear things and be jumpy for weeks. I'm hoping that by putting on my big girl sparkle panties and watching this I'll help deal with this silly fear I have. We shall see.
If you get the chance, check either of them out. A bit dark, but they definitely will make you think.

Pew pew!

Apparently my eyes just keep getting better.
Yes it's true. For only 3 low payment of $99 you can...ahem.
Sorry. Started to feel like an infomercial there.

Thing is, I just learned this morning that I can apply to have the eyeglass restriction taken off my driving license because my eyes (which have never really ever been all that bad) are now officially within the 20/20 range. They have been slowly getting better for years.
Sure I still will get a new pair because I'm used to the world being in perfect squeaky A1 focus all the time, but I've thought for over a year now that I honestly could drive without my glasses just fine. It's nice to know I wasn't just deluding myself.
AND it would mean I can wear normal sunglasses while driving...which is cool, because I've never had any other than those lame clip on ones that sort of reflect an image of you eyes back on the lens and the pair I was planning to turn into sunglasses are the ones that broke.

If only I could get lasers installed too.

Pew Pew!

Resist

Must resist cat call and couch.

Too much to do...

Did I ever tell you how lucky you are

A few days ago, Carla (aka. Mizfit) said she learned this from Dr. Seuss's Did I ever tell you how lucky you are? :

"Screw motivation. If we are physically capable of working out we are lucky. No matter how much we wanna whine or lament or moan about how bad we have it the simple fact we are ABLE to exercise makes us one of the lucky ones. "

Amen.


This morning I was exhausted and stressed out and worried about all I have to do today before I can sleep, and you know what? I got in to the gym and within minutes the flowing movement got me soaring...focused...thinking...feeling *GOOD* about being alive and all that I can do with my body and mind. For a few minutes I could get lost in what it feels like to move and enjoy moving...no stress...no worries. Just me.

I may be a year older but I honestly feel younger than I have in years. :)

I wore an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time...

Yeah. I'm older again.
Oh well what can ya do...

Thanks Mobely

Sometimes Moby can cheer me up when noone else can...thanks Mr. Mobely...from the bottom of my squidgy soul.

Can the 3rd thing please get it over with? I have stuff to do...

Last night I recieved an email reminder reminding me that it was almost time to order Mum flowers for her birthday in 2 weeks.

This morning my favourite old glasses fell to the floor and in a freak event, snapped right in half across the nose.

I am not enjoying this.

Soon...

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Sometimes I'd like to quit

Sometimes I think that if it weren't that I'm nearly half done I'd love to throw this whole MSc thing out the window. I'm just tired of being tired and way too busy for my own good. When I realise I am planning my week and I am unsure of just how to make sure I don't have to do work on my birthday (saturday) I know it's gone too far. People aren't meant to do this for long periods of time. Well, not without medications anyways. Last night I came very close to throwing a wobbler...but in the end I finished and came home and I feel better today.
Truth is, I just have to keep going. Things will get done, bit by bit.

All I know is, when this is over I a throwing a very large party. You are all invited.
There will be cupcakes and beer.
And me with the biggest grin you've ever seen.

For now...it's back to the data mines for me...

My first winter rant

It's snow people.
Go figure -in the end of october in Saskatchewan?
You knew this was coming...chill.
You've seen ice before. Grab a toque and mitts and suck it up.
Slow down when you drive and just take a deep breath.
After all, only 5 more months of this frozen crap...better get used to it.

Me?
I'm jsut concentrating on not falling on my butt when I walk on the skating rink sidewalks.

Ah.
Winter...

Arrr matey have you ever been to sea?

I had a great weekend. I couldn't rake because it rained, but I do not care. I got to relax and still get lots done...and I came out of it feeling really good about myself.
Wanna know why?
Well this weekend, not only did I find some nice fuzzy-lined warm winter boots that are actually adult looking and don't look like eskimo boots or hikers...I also found BOOTS! Swashbuckling worthy boots!
This is huge.
I kid you not when I say that I have the calves of a pirate. I wistfully look at boots and whenever I see ones I like and actually risk trying them on they will only zip up about 3/4 of the way. My calves are not dainty...they're strong and manly. Good for escaping zombies, but VERY annoying for buying boots. I've had $$ aside for years to find boots that fit. I've even bought an amazing pair of Fluevog Operetta boots that I'm saving up for to be altered by a shoeman because they were amazing enough that I was willing to save up to pay someone to fix them so they fit.

And this weekend whole questing for winter boots I found some incredible brown leather swashbuckling boots from Clark's and I figured I'd try them on, as they had a bit of a give in the back...and THEY FIT! They look AMAZING! I wanted to go out in the mall and yell "I'VE GOT BOOTS PEOPLE! F*CKING AYE!"

Yes...All girlish glee aside, I love them. They are really nice. I can wear boots now and not feel left out when I feel all Zoe Washburn and want to go space pirating...

And...after being home and feeling trim and slim from my few months of diet and exercise (I'm down 10lbs since the summer) I had a thought and tried on my Fluevogs, jut on a whim. And yes...my Operettas zip up now.
They are snug, but they do up. YEAH!

I guess there's something to this fitness and exercise thing after all...:)

BWAHA!!!

tee hee

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Huh. Whaddaya know...

Since George our stove came to live with us his back left burner hasn't lit very well. Being gas and all after it didn't correct itself I finally broke down and called the warranty people to fix it...seemed the safe thing to do...sometimes it would take over 20 clicks to light...notentirely safe methinks. This morning they came and fixed it in 5 minutes. That's it! Make me wish I'd called them months ago!

Because I had to wait for the stove dude I got to sleep in this morning until 8. Heavenly. But now...back to work. A little gym workout and then a lot of labwork. It's my friday off so I can saunter in when I please and get done what I need to today for my MSc before I head home.

Have a great day:)

Relax don't do it...

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It's a bit of a less crazy week this week. I spent a few hours each night of monday night and tuesday night with J. Wednesday at my brothers. Tonight I'm working late, but so is J and tomorrow? Well we might actually go out!
I *know*
Will wonders never cease.
It's good to take the pressure off your brain a bit.
I got a lot done for my meeting in Toronto and now know I have all November to put together my committee meeting report, data, do lab work, do homework and study in long days again. I feel positively peaceful having a few shorter days this week.
Ahhhhhh! :)

Retropolis

I stumbled upon a great website...The "Retropolis" art collection is amazing. He does fantastic steampunk style art...real art deco-ey feel to it. And there are lots of mad scientists and robots involved. I like.
I do believe that for my birthday I will treat myself to this print to frame up for my mad scientist closet:

biting the hand that feeds

I was struck this weekend at just how under appreciated pathologists are. They’re the ones who look at peripheral blood smears. Biopsies. Removed organs and tumours. They try and find out after your death why you’re there on the autopsy table. Their work is the basis of what your doctor will use for treatment when you’re really sick. They have the nerve wracking role of being expert – the one who will declare the dreaded “C word”. The one who can tell you you have 6 months to live.

Sometimes the doctors I work with frustrate me. They are busy. They are over-intelligent and tend to order underlings around. They expect from us what they give to us and others and will not put up with bullshit and can be very curt. And yet, I must admit, I am in awe of the pathologists I work with. Yes, admittedly some of them are pathologists because their people skills are totally lacking and will freely admit it. They are suited to look at the specimen - to see only the disease and not have to deal with people - and I get why. Having to diagnose a fatal condition in a small child…a mother of 4…nailing the coffin closed on yet another regular life - that is hard enough day in and day out. To have to put faces to the cases and tell the patients and their families day after day? THAT takes a special kind of person.

And things are changing. Slowly they, even at their level of expertise, are just another cog in the wheel. They are pushed for x numbers of cases per month to prove their worth. I mean, I am a “lowly tech”…what I do could be done by others -I’m not vain enough to think otherwise. Sure I’m good, and my skills are great and I benefit the ones I work for, but in the end, while I can see some things now after 10 years in pathology- like whether someone has a ER, PR or HER2 positive breast tumour, or some common GI conditions or bloodwork results, I cannot know, simply at a glance in the microscope, what organ the tissue is from. I cannot give my expert opinion on whether a tumor is benign…determine stage 1 from stage 4. I cannot recommend therapy. They can. And they do - often 16 hours a day 6-7 days a week. These are doctors who often have no lives because they are the only ones who can do this and cannot bring themselves to leave a patient wating…often, unless they are married to other doctors, their families and spouses simply cannot understand why they do it - why they would work like this and neglect them. They don't get why after nearly no sleep they’d get up and do it all over again…and sometimes their family life is sacrificed for the care of others. Their work becomes their life.
In all this they are becoming under appreciated for the amazing work they do. And it is a true shame…

I did a lot of thinking this weekend, after seeing and working with pathologists in a huge health and research centre work and hear them complain and thrive like any other job. I repeatedly thought of the cardiologist who attended my mother. How he took the time to speak candidly and compassionately with my mum, my dad and with us. How he made sure my mum was well cared for, and how her last days were full of as much comfort and compassion as he and the girls on the ward could offer. How the people I work for gave him the information he had to tell us.

I simply do not know how exhausted, under appreciated doctors get out of bed and do it day after day…I don’t think I am enough of a person to do that. To me, no amount of money is worth the sacrifice they put in…I do not have their inner spark and drive that fuels them exhausting week after exhausting week. My home life is more important to me than what I do...but I do not do what they do...

But I do know this – I am glad that I can call some of them my friends.

It is good to be home

I had a great weekend in Toronto. I learned a lot and had a great visit with some old friends I haven't seen in a long time. I managed (barely) to not miss my flight home, and altho it was fun to be on my own in a big city, stay in a hotel room with a king sized bed all to myself (!!!), use a hotel gym while looking at the city night skyline and eat delicious sushi and sip elderflower pear cider (and find out just why Krispie Kreme donuts are such a big deal) I am so glad to be home.
I've been so busy lately that it was nice to just unwind and "be" for a bit after the long days of work at the meetings were over. And yes, sap that I am, I really missed J. I like going exploring in new places with J...and finally having some time for me made it painfully obvious that he wasn't there with me. It was good to see his smiling face when I got home.
I'm back home to regular life again, but I'm hoping things will let off a bit and life will be slightly more normal this week. From all of this I am encouraged in my life that I'm doing good...not just for me but for others. I'm healthy, and for the first time in ages I feel like all this hard work might be worth it. I've realised again what matters and that in the end knowledge, love and good friends are at the top of what I need to be happy. Whether or not someone slipped something in my coffee in Toronto, I'll take it. :)

Happy Tuesday everybody.

Reality is blurring

Yesterday was another 17.5 hour day. After my second class today I was walking back to the lab and saw a grey lump in the hallway by the door.

"How'd Zeke (the cat) get out there? He knows he's not allowed outside" I thought.

Yeah...

Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening me

http://www.nataliedee.com/

I love Roger's raspberry almond granola mixed with blueberry yogurt. I am eating it right now and it is everything I dreamed it could be.
Even better than a cupcake.
No. Be quiet. It really is.

I had a nice relaxing weekend at the lake and now am back in the thick of it. This weekend I have a meeting to go to where I will learn lots and present lots, and after my biostatistics midterm exam today (eep) it will be hard core data crunching outside regular work until it begins this weekend. I am hoping to not wig out and do well on my midterm and then after this weekend...I am hoping for a whole evening off after that.
Oh to dream :)

Anyone want to write my exam for me?
I'll pay you is delicious granola...

Unsanity

"There is an area of the mind that could be called unsane, beyond sanity, and yet not insane. Think of a circle with a fine split in it. At one end there's insanity. You go around the circle to sanity, and on the other end of the circle, close to insanity, but not insanity, is unsanity."
~Sidney Cohen

Yesterday I was on campus for a total of 17.2 hours.
After going home at midnight and doing 2 and a half hours of homework, I am back here again at work after nearly 4 hours of wondrous sleep. One more hideously long day and tomorrow begins Thanksgiving weekend. Even though I will still have to study for a midterm and will have work to do there will be lots of sleep and turkey and being in the same room as my husband.

This is my carrot on a stick today my friends. To avoid insanity for another day...

Here's to keeping it together for 1 more day...

I have a cunning plan my lord...

I would totally hang that on the wall...only if the hole in it was available for my cat to poke his head thru occasionally

These are exciting and chatotic times - I may have to travel for a weekend for my MSc project in a few weeks (to learn new and exciting things) and, I must say, it is a pain in the butt to try and get everything together, find proper flights and try and book things and figure out who's paying for it (please not me please not me). I am not joking when I say that I really do not have time...and am amused that travelling grad students are lumped in with doctors who make a gajillion dollars...cuz we can totally afford the same accommodations...Man, how do people travel for a living? This is absurd.
I can book holidays no problem...that's *my* plans. Someone else's plans, while intellectually stimulating, are SO not the same thing...
Don't get me wrong - I'm quite excited to travel on my own for a weekend. I'm just having stupid details thrust upon me and I'm wigging out...I'm sure it will all turn out OK in the end...right?

Bwa ha. My sides.

How many senior researcher does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Five. One to change the light bulb, and four to argue about whether they’re taking the right approach to changing the bulb.

It's another 15 hour day here at Chez Laboratory. Gibbedy gibbedy gibbedy...

Here we go again...

An open letter to the director of Ninja's Creed

Dear sir,

I feel compelled to write to you about your latest film Ninja's Creed. Although the poster and the description alluded to an exciting B movie adventure involving ninjas, your movie did not have any credible ninjas in it. There was no skulking, sneaking, fighting or other ninja-like shenanigans.... even the rare and underwhelming assassinations by your so called "ninja" were alluded to off screen and done by a woman who was so obviously unmuscled I doubt she could have taken anyone unawares, let a lone assassinate them in a variety of splattery ways. Perhaps noone pointed it out to you at the time, but an Asian woman in tight pants with a knife does not make a ninja. Your film left us with poor dialog and mediocre acting...and no damn ninjas.

I am not a fussy a movie-goer. I am willing to sit through a perfectly average film (even a poor one) if there are well choreographed fighting scenes or cool effects - and *especially* if there are battling ninjas. Had there been even one reasonable ninja or good fight scene in your movie I would have sat through to the end of it, but I didn't make it past the half way mark. Even Mystery Science Theatre style mockery by myself and my husband wore thin by halfway through the film and we simply had to shut it off. It was terrible.

In the future, if you plan on making a movie entirely without ninjas please feel free to leave the term ninja from the title and description of the film so that suckers like myself will walk by it to find another one with ninjas: perhaps a label like "100% ninja free", or "Now with less ninjas" would suffice.

I wanted ninjas to fill my evening with relaxing entertainment. Please make an effort next time.

Sincerely,
Geo

Dude where's my pants?

I have been in at work after a brilliant workout for a mere 20 minutes. Since arriving I have already spilled water all over the front of me and my new pants. Other than hiding until I dry out my only option is to change back into sweaty workout pants - not happening. When I workout I sweat. No one needs to be exposed to that.

Perhaps I should just wear a bib and no pants whenever I have morning drinks or coffee at my desk. My lab coat *is* long enough to cover me up...hmmmm

Safety Message

Over the last few days, people I know are losing loved ones randomly to car accidents. Random senseless things where there was no real reason...

So please. Drive safely K?
I need all of you :)

Oh...you wanted the truth then? Whoops...

This article in the Guardian is a very humorous take on how the "regular" press reports on scientific discoveries and facts. A brilliant parody of science reporting. A friend forwarded it to me and it made me smile.

Funny...and sadly...too often true.

Yakawow. Indeed.


Oh - and if you were so inclined to do multiple regression analysis at 7AM to get an assignment completed before work (what?) - may I recommend the following song as a soundtrack?

It worked for me...

I'm exhausted

"I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter, scraped over too much bread"

~Bilbo Baggins

So very true...This 14 hour day sh*t is really getting to me.

*sigh*

image source

beep beep beep beep beep beep ....

They have been loading building materials off a truck and into the construction site right outside my lab all morning. If they are not done soon I am going to put on my ninja suit and go outside to disable that ridiculous backup beeper thing on the loader...

beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep ....

Faith and Begorah

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Oh I am so glad it's friday. Yes I know I have to work on saturday too, but tonight I get to see my husband! Wohoo! We'll be home at the same time...and awake! Booyah.

And yes, when I opened my cup of Tim Horton's coffee after my workout this morning it tasted so fine that there were rainbows...in my head...and now they're there ALL THE TIME!
MUAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Exhaustion is fun :)

Rocking the lab. Yo?

Because I've been spending lots of time in the biosafety hood this week culturing cancer cells...in our affectionately nicknamed cabinet room ("the hood") I present to you a few tracks from a favourite remix album of mine I've been listening to while I'm in there. For some reason it keeps me going at the end of a long 14 hour day...

Have a good day Y'all...

I am slowly going crazy, 1,2,3,4,5,6, switch!

Well hello there.
Here I am again at the lovely Chez Laboratory, in my home away from home. Yesterday was a 15 hour day and more of the same today...I have a stat assignment due and cell lines to culture and more MSc stuff. Busy...but somehow thriving on it. Something about throwing my wobbler and then making a game plan for what to do next has taken away some of the jibbelies and gotten me focused again. I have deadlines. I thrive with deadlines. J is equally busy with his job so we're cheering each other on and trying to get things done for a few moments home together...

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My knee is still a bit twingy from the spin class abuse on monday so I gave it another day off and have just come in early to work to have a few minutes to sip coffee and check in on the interwebs and get my sh*t together before another long day.

In the end, eez gutt people. :)

Yesterday morning a sparrow flew in the bus and fluttered a bit and then settled in on the steering wheel of the bus, much to the joy of the driver. He was looking at me (it was 6:05 and I was the only one on the bus at first!), the road and the bird saying "look at the little guy!" and grinning madly. Eventually the bird flew near the back door and someone getting off managed to shoo it back outside...odd little things in my day keep happening to make me smile. I like to think the world is trying to keep me sane in what little ways it can :)

Everybody making a sound....

Well I feel a bit better.
I worked hard this weekend got to visit old friends and unwind a bit. J was sweet and took me out to a great thai place and helped me unwobble. Yes, I'll have a whackload of work to do, but it is what it is. I'll just have to buckle down and do it.
I got up for another spin class of doom this morning. I arrived late and got one of the crappier bikes, which seemed to bug my knee a bit, so I'm going to make a point of getting there earlier and try to get a better bike. The last thing I want to do is screw up my knee...I think I'd go nutso if that happened. Tomorrow is swimming so that should take some of th edge off. It's stiff but not sore so I think it'll be OK. I'm trying glucosamine supplements to strengthen it...we shall see.

I've been listening a lot to the Gorillaz: D-sides album lately. I like it even more than the Demon Days album it is a B-side album for . I leave you with a track from it that has been stuck in my head all day - it's using some of the audio from another Gorillaz song I like called Dare and making a new equally great song out of it... Have a good day everybody.

The best intentions have screwed me over

Know how I just said nothing could bring me down?
Yeah.
Well...
I just received the results back from the external lab testing of my MSc project stuff...and they totally did NOT do what they were supposed to. They took my stuff and redid it as they thought would be best and not what they were told to...meaning I have way more work to do than originally and the results are NOT quite what they were supposed to be...so I'm struggling with trying to figure out a new way to analyze my results because I can't do what I was supposed to and it's all I get. I could have prepared them differently and gotten better results from them this way had I known what the f*ck they were going to do. What a great reward for all my hard work! As a bonus, since they're doing a favour for me to analyze them like this I'm not really in the position to complain... so I just have to sit here and imagine hitting the tech over the head with a baseball bat while I try and salvage as much useful data out of these different results as I can.
It's not very cathartic. I need a bigger imaginary bat. Maybe a tazer...

I appreciate people trying to take initiative but this is not their project to screw with...there is nothing like expectantly waiting 2 months for the results of a lot of hard work to find more work... I think can make it work for mostly what I want, but it isn't what I'd really needed and will extend what I have to do just that much longer.

F*CK.

Happy day.

This song came on this morning and I've been humming it ever since. It fits my mood...
Have a wonderful day everybody - I know I will :)

Four fried chickens and a Coke. And some dry white toast please...

Yesterday J got to meet Dan Aykroyd and shoot an interview with him for a coworker. Dan was in town promoting his new crystal head vodka (which is remarkably good actually...and it's in a cool bottle). J was (to put it mildly) pleased. Our van plates are Ecto-X...so yes, you could say that Ghostbusters is a favourite film, and the Blues Brothers was a huge influence on him as well...and I admit to liking them supremely as well. Dan is a comedy icon from our childhood...So, yeah - meeting Dan and finding him to be a good guy was a really cool experience for him.

Me? I met with my brother and a bunch of old people after supper to help them plan how to update their website.

I am thinking I did not get the better deal for the day :)

Oh well. There was cake...:)

Pipette Hero

Man I wish I had $1000 of product to order from eBioscience, 'cause I'd LOVE to have this promo shirt...

Anyone up for a ride? No? A dance then?

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Holy cardio batman

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I went to my very first spin class this morning at the gym. I swear that lady was trying to kill me...I do feel great now though! I will definitely be going again. I've been assured it's an OK workout for my knee and I've already been biking so I figured it was a good place to start.

This sounds wierd I know, but I'm trying to figure out if I can wear my heart rate monitor in the pool. I know the watch part is waterproof, but I'm curous if the Polar F4 heart rate monitor chest strap can be used underwater. It'd be rediculously cool to see how I do swimming heart rate wise, but I don't want to wreck the little robot...it's a fun toy. Anyone know if you can?? I'm geekily curious...

Back on the wagon again

Well I finally got to the gym after trying all week to make the schedule work for me.
I made the 6am bus and got to the University Physical Activity Center and checked it out...it's nice. I'm curious to check out the pool and their spin classes next week too. They even have a climbing wall...but I'm not interested in that. I had plenty of time to check things out and have a workout for 35 minutes on the treadmill (I tried my very best to just speedwalk but I did run a few 2 minutes spurts...couldn't help myself. Listening to Prodigy when I workout does that to me). I wore my heart rate monitor to make sure I got a good workout...it's a fun little toy. It tells me if my heart rate is in cardio range, for how long and how many calories burned. (I think I'll log it out of curiosity...and be my own new lab experiment!) Then, after some other muscle stuff an some stretches I still made it to work on time with a cup of coffee.
Cool!
Now if it would only stop raining I'd be happy as a clam. :)

Buses can be a PITA

All week I keep having grand schemes to get in to work early and use the pool here and check out the other gym facilities. Our local transit has made it more complicated by f*cking up all the routes as of September 1 (I believe their words were "revamping them for a better tomorrow!"...*ahem*)...essentially they've revamped a lot of the routes that apply to me in the AM, so I' having a bit of a problem not missing buses or taking ones that get me here with any extra time. Everything is slightly off the norm and it'll take a few weeks until the buses themselves actually arrive when they say they will as well...for now if you're not out there about 10 minutes early you're playing roulette with actually catching the bus you want -lots of waiting either way. This morning I managed to miss a bus by mere seconds...I've been able to log some extra time this week here as makeup time for missing classes so it's not *that* bad, but I'd rather have swam this morning than sat in a bus stop for 25 minutes in the rain. Thankfully I had some CBC podcasts to amuse myself so it wasn't so bad. If it hadn't rained I would have biked in...I like biking because I have control over my arrival time. Unfortunately in the rain and snow it's not so great, so despite my whining, I have to figure this transit thing out...and I will.

Ah well, eventually I will get here in time to see the pool and perhaps even swim in it...we shall see. For now, it is another day...we shall see what's up :)

Fall Meme

It's been a while.
I have time to kill.
So here ya go...because I know you're all dying to know the random wibbles of my daily life...

Current clothes: Jeans. Orange polo shirt and socks.

Current mood: Guilty. I brought an adaptor to work this AM (thought it was my brothers cell phone adaptor he said he’d left at the lake and I’m meeting him for supper) and then my husband spent an hour at home this morning looking for it (because it was *not* in fact my brother’s but part of my husband’s light board…which he needs today for work...heh) and so he was stressed out for no reason and quite late for work. AND has to come to my work to get it. Fucksticks.

Current music: just listened to Blur, Think Tank.

Current annoyance: Hearing people complain about being busy as they sit there doing nothing while I run around like an idiot trying to keep my life on track. I do a zillion things cuz I have to and don’t whine about it and then they’re done…of course maybe they just did that and now that they’re *done* they feel free to bitch about them. Hmm…

Current thing: trying to fit exercise in my already full days

Current desktop picture: A woman playing ukulele on the moon

Current book: I just finished Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman -loved it.

Current song in head: Hey Mr. Bassman…sung by Scooter and the band from the Muppet Show. Don’t ask…I don't know how it got there either.

Current DVD in player: Currently rewatching Torchwood season 1.

Current refreshment: Thinking about running to get some lemonade.

Current worry: Just had random wiring issues with my furnace fixed and it’s supposed to be OK now…but now wonder what else in my house can just randomly arc or combust…

Current thought: Wish I’d just left that adaptor at home this morning, or mentioned it in passing to J before I left. Funny how a little act of what you think is helpfulness can totally bugger up someone’s day. I *meant* well…

*sigh*
Here's hoping I manage the rest of the day better :)

*tears of laughter*

...I have no words as to how rediculously awesome this photo is.
*snort*

Oh no, I gotta go back to school...

I'm officially a student again.

How utterly wierd...

It's ALIVE!

Hooray! My furnace and AC work again.
It was just a minor repair to replace a wire that had gotten old and cracked and broken...so it arced the side of the furnace instead of being one piece and starting the fan motor like it should have. According to the guy I got to fix it, it does look like the wiring in the furnace is old and getting brittle so we need to look into replacing either it or the furnace in the next 1-2 years to be safe. He left us with some options to think about...to replace all the internal electrical in the furnace (which is about 40 years old and really inefficient) would cost about 700-1000...and a whole new furnace would cost ~3500. So...it will take some thinking and planning...that's a lot of lettuce.
Either way I'm not comfortable with leaving old wiring in there long term, because, honestly this could just happen again, eventually. He said the wires in there looked OK as of now, but you never know...he recommended not to leave it longer than 2 years, just for safety. I know I don't want to worry about that sort of thing happening again when we're not home...it should just blow the breaker. This arc actually made a little hole in the side of the furnace box (spooky) We were lucky this time and should be responsible and look into fixing it properly.
Thankfully this repair guy is one who was honest with us and he helped us fix our furnace motor in the middle of the night mid winter and was helpful and honest when everyone else tried to screw us over or lie to us about cost. I called him to install our gas stove too. He's' a good local guy who doesn't BS, so I trust him. He can put in new furnaces too, so I'm going to get him to quote us and see what our options are. By spring we can look at what to do. I like supporting local nice honest people.

It's nice to know it's fixed though. Man, electrical things always creep me right out...

SCIENCE!!!

Birthday boy

Happy birthday J. Thanks for sharing our crazy life :)

I heart you.

.

.

.

PS - I've been humming this song all morning.

Have a go:

I've got hippie hair

So, we needed shampoo, right, so while at the store last week getting things like Neo citran and cough syrup for the sickly me, instead of our usual brand we saw some organic vegan eco-friendly stuff with goji berries (or some other wierd unidentifiable fruit) in it, and we figured we'd try it out, cuz hey, it was on sale, and I like vegan food, so how can it go wrong?
Now, after a week of this new shampoo, I am disturbed to find that despite my best efforts I am starting to have hippie hair. And no, I don't like it. Don't get me wrong I'm all over the eco friendly non-chemical shampoo shtick, but the deep conditioning fruity whatsits have left my hair rather dull and a sort of stringy and a bit of...well, almost greasy looking...you know...like hippy hair.
I don't like it.
No sir...so this weekend I'm getting my old regular fruity shampoo.
Hopefully noone will have noticed other than me...

attack of the clutter monsters

In an attempt to battle the "dear gods what have I gotten myself intos", this weekend was a lot of work, but very satisfying. Seeing as I know free time will be at a premium over the next semester, I wanted to get my home in order for my sanity's sake. It's been such a busy summer that it was chaos...and I know if I didn't do anything now it wouldn't happen for a long time.

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So saturday I attacked the basement, which was still in utter disarray from after the "great shitstorm of 2010". It is now organised and tidy, with all the laundry sorted and caught up on. Then there was the main level...it ain't perfect, but now it looks as though people live there and I don't want to go for a walk to escape the clutter. The table top can be seen and the kitchen and living room look rather nice if I do say so.

Sunday was spent going through our bedroom and decluttering, putting away all the backlog of laundry, defurring the house and making up the bed with lovely smelling clean sheets. It's nice coming home to a home that relaxes you instead of making you think of all the things you need to do :)

J took me out for Burmese food to my favourite local place on saturday night and we went for nice long walks outside both evenings. It's been rather special having him all to myself over the holidays and it was nice to spend some relaxing time together. I couild tell I was relaxing as I made some chicken parmesan and cheese onion bread and stuffed peppers for supper last night as well...cooking always relaxes me. In the end I feel quite caught up. I still have a sniffle and the odd cough, but I'm happy to report that I believe I will survive the plague after all :)

The only downside to the last few days is when we went to turn on the air conditioning a few days ago there were some zapping arcing noises and the lights flickered. So, naturally we shut it off straight away and ran to the basement where we noticed a bit of smoke in the basement by the furnace fan, but nothing permanent that we could see. We pulled the cover off the furnace and poked around and other than some dust bunnies (ahem) we couldn't see anything amiss. We're too scared to turn it back on until we've had it looked at so I'm going to hopefully book someone to come look at it soon. Of course this week it is chilly and rainy and we could really do with putting the heat on, but we'll just have to suck it up and put on fuzzy socks and a sweater until we have it looked at, as if it is the furnace fan that's the issue we can't run the heat until it's fixed. I'm hoping it's something minor like a wire or something and not the entire furnace fan...because that could mean essentially a whole new furnace. And yes we've thought of replacing it as it's old and completely energy wasting, but we are hoping on doing it on our terms and budget. But, we shall see. No use getting worked up about it until it's been looked at is there?

For now I'm content to be living in a sane house. I have 1 week of sanity before classes start and I hope to make the most of it...

It's scary when you write it down...

I have just calculated that in order to make up for the time I will be at my 2 classes and a lab this semester I will have to stay an extra 1 1/2 hours at work every day all week to make up the 7 hours...with a get out of jail free card for fridays of only 1 hour. I was already putting in about an extra hour a day for my master's project, which I will still need to continue to do.

Soooo....essentually from september until mid december I will be here for an extra 2 or 3 hours per day, plus a good chunk of saturday.

Whaaaa?

I need a beer...make that 2...

squeak squeak

There have been a lot of forest fires out in B.C. lately and the smoke actually drifted all the way out here on the weekend so my allergies went nutso...almost foggy with all the smoke. Quite bizarre. It made me have quite the squeaky voice and all that. I sounded like a combination of Tom Waits and Micky Mouse. It was rather funny...at first.
Unfortunately for me it's turned into a full out headcold as of monday night and even tho I stayed home yesterday to sleep all day I still feel bleh. So I'm in to do what's needed at work and then I'm off home for more sleep and tea. I can tell I'm tired and overmedicated still because I noticed that I just sent out a memo discussing issues that have been "pooping" up on the image server...yeah, thanks spell check. Oh well...someone will get a bit of a giggle at my expense...I'm too stuffed up and medicated up to mind much at the moment...and seeing as the issues to deal with are rather sh*tty, well it's somewhat appropriate.
Yeah. That's it.
*whistle*

Talk amongst yourselves...
*sniff*

Work is boo

I'm back at work today.

Ask me if I like it?

You guessed it -No.

I do not like it Sam I am.

I'm feeling like a bit of a zombie still with remnants of jetlag, but I'm nearly back to normal. Today should be amusing if nothing else as I have a bunch of meetings today but somehow, over the weekend I have managed to nearly lose my voice. It sounds horrid, but after squeaking like a boy in puberty all through my friend's wedding on saturday(which was lovely by the way-gorgeous sunny day for an outdoor wedding and I looked smashing in my new red frock) I've pretty much faded off into a squeaky whisper. It doesn't hurt and I don't have much of a cold...just tired and squeaky. Very weird...it sounds horrid though. I think I'll milk it for all it's worth :)

So...I'm off to hang with the zombies for the day. If I make it home alive and brain intact, I'll dive into those photos and pick a few good ones for ya.

Have a great day everyone :)

Oh pussy cat pussy cat where have you been?

I'm home, cat in lap, coffee in hand, wistfully recalling what it was like to not have any fur on my clothing while wandering with my love through new sights and sounds with no work and delicious food. Once I download our nearly 1000 photos, I'll take some time to blurb a bit about our 10 day 10th anniversary holiday. Catching up with grapecat was truly wonderful... Truly.

Strangely enough, having just flown home late last night from our glorious holiday over the ocean, visiting the wonderful grapecat in her roundel, as well as Paris, Canterbury, Dover and London, I have been struck with the utter paranoia of the United States of America, adding a bit of a sour note to the end of an otherwise deliriously wonderful trip. Not really considering it, we booked our flights with Delta (bleh) which flew direct from home through Minneapolis international airport on the way to and back from the Heathrow airport in the UK. Even though we were in the US only long enough to buy a bit of coffee or a pint and munchables on our way through and back, we had to disembark, get scanned, get our luggage, go through customs (where they can open our luggage and look through it for "our safety" even though we are not actually staying there), get scanned again, put our luggage on for the connecting flight (where they can randomly rifle through your luggage again for whatever reason they feel like)...before we could possibly get scanned *again* and then wander around an airport a bit and reboard to get on with our trip. On our way back I took of my boots 3 times. 3 bloody times.
Thankfully we dressed up a bit for our flights and were our most politely unoffensive white little selves and were relatively unaccosted. Anyone who appeared shaggy or mistrusting, or sadly, of middle eastern descent, seemed to get their fingerprints or retinas scanned or have a full body inspection experience...I wouldn't want to have to get into those new full body scanners....I can't be convinced they're safe.
Heathrow airport where they have actually *had* bombings...*they*were not this paranoid, and just did what was needed without feeling so terribly opressive. Paris? Ditto. Canada? Downright polite and helpful, I must smugly report.
Perhaps I was just tired and tetchy as it was about 3 AM UK time when we passed thru customs towards a few hour wait before we could fly on home, but I must say....the US has a wee bit too much paranoia on it's hands. Like it's feeding on itself...I don't think I'll travel through the US again if I can help it. Just a bit too creepy.

Oh Canada, you make me love you more and more whenever I go away :)